Page 113 - Sociology and You

Chapter 3 Culture 83
Norms help define a culture's per- ception of beauty for both males and females. What are some norms that shape the American ideal of beauty?
use them to guide their social behavior. Norms are so ingrained they guide “ behavior without our awareness. In fact, we may not be consciously aware
of a norm until it has been broken. For instance, you may not think about
standing in line for concert tickets as a norm until someone attempts to step
in front of you. Then it immediately registers that waiting your turn in line is expected behavior. Cutting in front of someone violates that norm. Norms range from relatively minor rules, such as the idea that we should applaud after a performance, to extremely important ones, such as laws against stealing.
Folkways, Mores, and Laws
Sumner identified three basic types of norms: folkways, mores, and laws. These three types of norms vary in their importance within a society. Accordingly, their violation is tolerated to different degrees.
What are folkways? Rules that cover customary ways of thinking, feel- ing, and behaving but lack moral overtones are called folkways. For exam- ple, sleeping in a bed versus sleeping on the floor is not a moral issue; it qualifies as a folkway. Folkways in the United States include supporting school activities, speaking to other students in the hall, and, if you are male, removing your hat in church.
Because folkways are not considered vital to group welfare, disapproval of those who break them is not very great. Those who consistently violate folkways—say, by talking loudly in quiet places, wearing shorts with a suit coat and tie, or wearing a different-colored sock on each foot—may appear odd. We may avoid these people, but we do not consider them wicked or immoral.
Some folkways are more important than others, and the social reaction to their violation is more intense. Failure to offer a woman a seat on a crowd- ed bus draws little notice today. In contrast, obnoxious behavior at a party after excessive drinking may bring a strong negative reaction from others.
A knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.
Margaret Mead U.S. anthropologist
folkways
norms that lack moral significance
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